Monday, November 17, 2014

Another week and another baptism! Lorena was baptized this
week. It was great to see her family so happy. Her grandmother, Sister Enna,
was recently diagnosed with cancer and it has really taken its toll on the family
and on Sister Enna. It was really great to see how the baptism pulled them
together and gave them joy in hard times.

It was also great to see how the gospel was able to help and
change Lorena. She told us that before we started teaching her that she had
felt alone and was not very self-confident. The gospel was able to help her
overcome those feelings and give her real purpose in life.

We are going to have another baptism, this week as well.
Montserrat is really excited to get baptized. She told us yesterday that she
wants Brother Robles to baptize her; it was what we were thinking anyway. The
ward is getting really excited as well now that this will be three straight
weeks with a baptism! The Bishop keeps telling us that he doesn’t want us to
leave. It is great to have such a great relationship with the leaders here in
our ward. It really builds the success and helps us to carry out the work of
salvation.

Morgan is doing fantastic. He actually went to a YSA
activity this weekend. In church, the Bishop shared with the ward about how
Morgan had told him how that what the most looks forward to is the church
activities during the week. I can see
that he really seeks out the Spirit and joys in its presence. He has taught me
a lot.

We had a Zone Conference with President Morales this week.
Receiving his council always helps me to improve. Even though I would be
considered an “experienced missionary” by this point, I still have much more to
learn. Not because I lack knowledge but because this work and gospel is all
about that, PROGRESS. As Elder Peterson and I have focused on what we need to
change, the Lord has truly started doing his work through us.

Monday, November 10, 2014

We had another baptism! Morgan got baptized and confirmed
this weekend. It was an awesome experience. His mom, dad, sister, and aunt
came. His dad and sister seem pretty interested and we are going to start teaching
them this week.

Morgan is super excited. The day of the baptism we went and
played soccer in the morning and he made up a chant that went, “1..2..3..Baptism!”
He was interviewed on Sunday and will receive the Priesthood and probably a
calling on the 23rd of November.
He told us that now after his baptism, his biggest desire that he has is
to receive a calling and prepare to go on a mission.

Other great news is that we will have ANOTHER baptism this
week. Lorena is really prepared for her baptism on the 15th. All we need is her interview. Everything looks good for this week.

We have three other dates as well. We are teaching a child name Monserrath and
we have a goal with her for the 22nd but her mom thinks it is too
soon. If we get her mom’s permission,
she will be baptized on that date. Also a father and son both name Wilber.
Their date is for the 13th of December.

Wilber is a great investigator. The only problem is that we
can only see him on Sundays because he works in Taxi. That is the biggest
obstacle for his progress, but he has shown a lot of faith and desires so far.

His son really surprised us too. He is 11 and came to church for the first time
on Sunday. Then the Primary started
practicing for the program (I am playing the piano so we were there) and Wilber
was singing right along. It was like he
was already a part of the ward. He absolutely loved it and is really excited to come back next week.

Well, the Lord surely is hastening the work of
salvation. I am just glad to be part of
it!

Monday, November 3, 2014

We had a pretty fun time with this Mexican Holiday. On Saturday and Sunday we went to the
graveyards close by and talked to people about the plan of salvation and showed
the movie, “Thanks to Him.” We also helped people out as they cleaned the
graves of people’s loved ones. It was
great to be able to bring our message of hope to those people in need.

Morgan is doing awesome.
He is more than prepared for his baptism. This week, he committed to receiving a
calling, prepare to enter the temple, and serve a mission in a year. Yesterday we asked him if he had any questions
for us before his baptism. He asked, “What
are your suggestions to me so that I can study the Book of Mormon and the Bible
together?’ I am excited because he asked me to baptize him. His baptism will be on Saturday.

One of the great parts of teaching Morgan has been the
conversion of the member who gave us the referral. Before, she (Ana) would go to church about
once a month. Now she, too, is preparing
to serve a mission. On Sunday, she and
Morgan both bore their testimonies. It
was really cool for us to see.

This week, we also put another baptismal date with a sister
named Lorena. She is the granddaughter
of Sister Edna. She has gone to church
twice recently but went a lot with her grandma when she was younger. She knows quite a bit about the Church and we
set her date for the 15th of November. It is not super for sure yet but she will
probably get baptized here soon.

Well, things are going great here in Minatitlan! Thanks for everything.

About

Elder Jonathan Lightheart is from Medford, Oregon. He left on November 7, 2012 to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was in Provo, Utah at the Mission Training Center until the first part of January and then served in the California San Fernando Mission until he broke his ankle on Janaury 18th. He returned home for four and a half months to have surgery and recover. He left to go down to Villahermosa Mexico on May 27th. He will serve there until March of 2015. This blog is a record of his mission and is maintained by his mother.

Elder Lightheart's Address

Elder Jonathan Martin Lightheart

You can send a letter to Elder Lightheart on the computer with dearelder.com. They print up the letter and send it in the pouch mail for free.